Listen to the full interview below.
WHAV listeners got a treat with a visit Thursday morning from “Dancing with The Stars” host and Haverhill native Tom Bergeron.
Tom Bergeron joins WHAV General Manager Tim Coco in preparing for the radio station’s next membership drive. (WHAV News photograph.)
Bergeron came to the station to join Win Damon on WHAV’s morning show, “Win for Breakfast.” The host’s first media job was at the station in the 1972. Bergeron’s first spot was a DJ gig, and perhaps not his finest moment.
“My paternal grandfather worked right down the street at what was then Atherton’s Furniture. He listened to and taped the first radio show I ever did on ‘HAV which was the Saturday night Rock show when I was a senior in high school and—how to put it—it sucked.”
Once he gained experience, Bergeron hosted his own morning show. He would greet listeners from 6 a.m.-noon as Tom Bergeron and from 1-2 p.m. as his on-air alter ego Dustin Hannah—a play on the Haverhill history legend.
While in the Edwin V. Johnson Newsroom, Bergeron remembered his time under Johnson’s tutelage, and the many lessons he learned on the job. Bergeron shared that whenever he would strike out with a theater troupe—and subsequently run out of money—then-General Manager Ed Cetlin always had a spot open for him at WHAV.
From WHAV, Bergeron worked at different radio stations around New England until getting into public television. From there he would go on to host “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and continues to host “Dancing with the Stars.”